Torrington Police Department holds successful drug-take-back day

Torrington Police Department
The Torrington Police Department collected approximately 130 pounds of unwanted or expired prescription drugs Saturday as part of a national drug take-back day.

TORRINGTON -- Leftover and unwanted prescription drugs found a new home in an incinerator, thanks to the Torrington Police Department's drug collection.

According to Sergeant Bart Barown of the Torrington Police Department, approximately 100 people dropped off over 1,000 containers of expired or unwanted prescription medication on Saturday. In all, Barown said, Torrington residents dropped off approximately 130 pounds of medication.

The collection was part of a national drug take-back day, sponsored by the Drug Enforcement Administration.

Nationwide, the DEA collected 377,086 pounds of medications at the most recent take-back event, held Oct. 29, 2011, across over 5,000 sites.

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In all, the first three take-back days resulted in nearly one million pounds of medication exiting circulation, once the DEA's efforts were combined with state, local and tribal law enforcement agencies.

National statistics for the Saturday collection were not available.

As was the case with other take-back days, Torrington police accepted any unwanted medication free of charge and on an anonymous basis. For more information on disposing of prescription medication and avoiding environmental hazards, visit http://www.deadiversion.usdoj.gov/.